


The Madman in the Basement

by etoiledunord



Category: Firefly, Fringe
Genre: Crossover, Drama, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-24
Updated: 2010-11-24
Packaged: 2017-10-25 23:32:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/276070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etoiledunord/pseuds/etoiledunord
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Simon takes River to Osiris to meet an expert in "neural therapy."</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Madman in the Basement

**Author's Note:**

> Written for jaune_chat for round two of xover_exchange on Livejournal. The prompt I used was "Simon thinks he's found a doctor that might know how to help River's condition, one Walter Bishop," with a focus on Walter/Simon interaction.
> 
> General season one spoilers for Fringe, and general series spoilers for Firefly--set pre-BDM.

Light shone in from odd angles through the small windows near the tops of the basement walls, creating pockets of shadow that made Simon nervous. Returning to Osiris was not something he’d expected to do, well, ever again, and even though he was far from his old home, he still worried that he’d run into someone who recognized him, or who recognized River.

River, who was never unremarkable, would certainly attract the attention of random passers-by today with her wide-eyed staring and distracted glances in every direction. She didn’t seem to be upset, just preoccupied, and Simon was as glad for her calmness as he was for the fact that they hadn’t come across anyone other than the man they’d hired to fly them from the ports to their destination—New Harvard University.

This particular building of the university was older and less used than the others. It was made out of stone and brick and had been declared a historical site, but it lacked the amenities required for many of the courses the institution offered. Simon wondered privately how someone who worked here could possibly have the resources to help River, but both his contacts and his own research had told him the man he was going to see was a genius in the field of neurochemistry, no matter the equipment he used.

Arranging this meeting had been no small task. Simon had learned of Doctor Walter Bishop by seeing the man’s name on a handful of papers he had managed to find on topics related to “neural therapy,” the euphemistic name given to the practice of drugging people and cutting into their brains. The papers he’d found had been part of the few published independently before the Alliance and Blue Sun caught wind of the technology and appropriated both it and most of the scientists researching it. Because of that, Simon had initially assumed that Dr. Bishop would be unwilling to help them—may even have been one of the doctors who had “treated” River in captivity—but desperation and curiosity had driven him to look for more information. He was surprised at what he found. Dr. Bishop had not been conscripted by the Alliance; instead, a short while after the publication of the last paper Simon had found, Dr. Bishop had been admitted into a mental health facility called St. Claire’s, where he received treatment for an unspecified condition. Both his incarceration and release had been poorly documented, but after nearly two decades, his son, one Peter Bishop, had somehow gotten him out of the facility, and Dr. Bishop had begun working for a company called Massive Dynamic.

Massive Dynamic was another mystery to Simon. It was a small research company that openly claimed to specialize in the potential of the human mind, body, and spirit, but it seemed to operate independently of any government constraints. Many of Simon’s shipmates had argued that it couldn’t be that simple, and that it was too dangerous to visit a Core planet and walk into what could very easily be an Alliance trap. After months more digging, though, Simon could only find evidence that Massive Dynamic was actually allowed to exist in peace by the Alliance. Likely, this was in case it was needed as a red herring or scapegoat at some point, and the Alliance assumed that a company that employed people recently released from mental health facilities was not likely to actually discover anything they would consider a threat.

Simon very much hoped that wasn’t the case.

They reached the door to the basement lab they’d been told to find. Simon knocked twice, briskly, and River stared at the grain of the wood as if she were reading it. When the door opened, there was a young woman, about Simon’s age, standing right where River was still staring.

“Hi there,” she said kindly, speaking directly to River. “I’m Astrid. We’ve been expecting you.”

River beamed at her.

Astrid turned to Simon. “Dr. Tam,” she said, more serious now. “I’m Astrid Farnsworth, Dr. Bishop’s assistant.” She offered him her hand, and he cautiously reached out to shake it.

“Nice to meet you,” Simon replied quietly. “Could we perhaps continue this inside?”

“No problem. Don’t worry, though. Nobody but the people here knows about your visit, and we’ll keep your secret. You’re only here for your sister.”

River took that moment to speak up. “You want to help us,” she said, still smiling.

Astrid returned her smile and held open the door for them. Simon knew that River’s intuition made her an excellent judge of character, and it shouldn’t have been unexpected after all this time, but her approval of Astrid did more to calm his nerves than everything he’d learned beforehand about Dr. Bishop and Massive Dynamic. Relaxing a little, he followed Astrid and River into the lab.

And his nerves went right back to uncalm.

An older man, whom Simon took to be Dr. Bishop, was standing in the middle of the very cluttered lab in front of a monitor, ostensibly watching the brainwave readings being displayed. This alone would have been quite fine, but what unnerved Simon was the contraption resting on Dr. Bishop’s shoulders and head. It resembled scaffolding covered in dozens of wires, and it was almost too big for the man’s frame. There was a band in the centre that wrapped tightly around Dr. Bishop’s forehead, into which the wires ran. The other ends of the wires were plugged into a series of obsolete pieces of equipment nearby, and they jostled as Dr. Bishop bounced in time to the song he was singing.

_Singing._

“Earth-that-was was green and gold  
And blue and brown and red  
The light and breeze and honeybees  
A-buzzing through my head”

_Son of a bitch_ , thought Simon.

“Walter,” Astrid cut in. “Walter, Dr. Tam and his sister are here.”

Dr. Bishop gave a small jump and turned around. “Oh!” he exclaimed, removing the scaffolding contraption from his head. He placed it on a nearby table on top of a pile of papers and moved towards Simon. “Dr. Tam, of course! Pleased to meet you! I’m Dr. Walter Bishop.”

Simon accepted the man’s enthusiastic handshake with a large amount of trepidation and a small, muttered “Hello.”

“And this must be Rinna!” Dr. Bishop continued, turning to greet River.

She giggled and shook his hand. “Intriguing.”

“Her name is River, Dr. Bishop,” Simon corrected. He was beginning to doubt his sources as to this man’s competence.

“Oh, forgive me, my dear,” Dr. Bishop said. Then: “Would you care for some peanut butter cookies? They’re quite wonderful.”

“Walter,” Astrid cut in again. Simon was extremely grateful to her. “Remember what we talked about? Dr. Tam and River are here to ask you questions about your work on neural therapy.”

Dr. Bishop looked at Astrid for a moment before he seemed to catch onto what she was saying. “Yes, yes of course!” he said. “I’ve been preparing for our meeting since this morning.” He gestured to Simon and River. “Please, come this way. I have something to show you.”

He led them back over to the setup with the large headpiece he’d been wearing earlier while Astrid headed over to a desk on the other side of the room. Dr. Bishop picked up the piece of equipment and, before Simon realized what was happening, stuck it on Simon’s head. He gave a little yelp of surprise and moved his hands to hold it steady. The headband was twisted and one of the wires had wound up in his mouth, and Dr. Bishop spent a moment fussing over him to sort everything out while Simon stood there uncomfortably, his eyes scrunched shut.

“There,” Dr. Bishop said once everything was in order—or as in order as it could be, given the nature of the device. Simon opened his eyes.

“The functions of the brain are immensely complex to understand, but simple enough to measure,” Dr. Bishop declared. “You, Dr. Tam, have a normal brainpan unchanged by chemical or surgical interference. Therefore, your brainwaves look normal.” He indicated the monitor, which was displaying a series of neurological readouts, which Simon recognized as being within normal parameters.

Dr. Bishop grabbed the headpiece again, moving it easily from Simon’s head to his own. “As for myself,” he continued, “I also have a normal brainpan, but I have carefully altered it using psychotropic substances.”

This caught Simon off-guard. “What?” he asked. “You took drugs for this?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Are you crazy?” Simon demanded.

Dr. Bishop put up a placating hand. “Don’t worry, Dr. Tam. I have been using these substances for my entire career. I know how to take care.”

Simon was somewhat unconvinced.

“Now, let’s observe the effects of the drugs on my neurological processes,” Dr. Bishop said, turning back to the monitor.

River giggled again. “They taste like pineapple,” she said. Simon gave her a worried look, but she was focused on Dr. Bishop.

“As you can see, some of the readouts are the same as yours, Dr. Tam, but some are different. I believe it is these functions”—and here he gestured to the readouts that were different—“that hold the potential of the human brain. Unfortunately they are significantly diminished in people over the age of five years, but the introduction of certain chemicals enhances them, allowing the brain to perceive more easily and associate more freely.”

Simon nodded. “I’ve come to similar conclusions,” he said. “But I wasn’t really looking at it from the angle of the brain’s potential.”

“Oh, there are vast amounts of potential,” Dr. Bishop replied. “Haven’t you and Rita tested what she’s capable of?”

“River,” Simon corrected again. “And no, not exactly. Most of the time it’s hard enough to deal with what happens accidentally, never mind trying to make things happen.”

Dr. Bishop grinned. “Precocious, is she?” he asked. “Always off exploring on her own?”

“You have no idea,” Simon said, sighing. He shook his head and refocused. “So, what do you know about reversing it?”

There was a slight pause. “Reversing it?” Dr. Bishop echoed.

“Right. How do we reduce the brainwave enhancements? River’s brain has been operated on, but if you know of a chemical that could restore some stability, I’d be grateful for anything that helps.”

Dr. Bishop looked perplexed. “Why in the verse would you want to _reduce_ the enhancements?”

Simon hesitated. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Has there been some kind of miscommunication here? I’ve come to you for help getting my sister back to normal.”

Unfortunately, this didn’t seem to clarify things.

“But... why?”

“Dr. Bishop, River was held in a facility against her will and used as a subject for an experimental program. They hurt her, and I’m trying to help her heal.” When all he got was a blank stare and silence, Simon continued. “My sister, Dr. Bishop, who I care about very much, and who I’m doing my best to protect. I couldn’t stop it from happening initially, but I can help her now.”

There was more silence. On the other side of the room, Astrid looked torn between coming to help and staying still and silent. River was staring at Dr. Bishop, expression sombre. Dr. Bishop was staring at nothing.

River’s eyes widened.

“His name was Peter,” she said in a quiet voice. “He was seven.”

Simon was confused. “Your son Peter?” he asked. “The one who got you out of St. Claire’s?”

Dr. Bishop slowly shifted his gaze to Simon. He gave a faint, morose smile. “Not quite the same one.” He looked away, back at River.

“You care about him the way Simon cares about me,” River told him. “Even with your secret.”

Now Astrid did come over. “Walter?” she asked. “Is everything all right?”

He was still watching River and didn’t appear to hear her, so he startled when Astrid put her hand on his arm. “Yes, Aster,” he told her. “Everything’s fine.”

He looked carefully at Simon, then back at River. Simon had absolutely no idea what was going on. River obviously did, though, and Simon could tell that she was waiting for something. Something important. Simon wondered what it was.

Slowly, Dr. Bishop began to smile.

“Well now,” he said. “Let’s see what we can find out about helping this remarkable young lady get better.”

River grinned at him.


End file.
